Gould ‘in limbo’ as camp nears
Robbie Gould was noncommittal Wednesday on whether he’ll be signed and kicking for 49ers by their Sept. 8 opener, much less at training camp in two weeks.
“I’m not going to commit to making any decision right now,” said Gould, who’ll be competing in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament this week at Edgewood Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada.
Gould’s kicking career remains in limbo after skipping the 49ers’ offseason program, and he harbors no urgency to sign a franchise-tagged tender of $5 million for this coming season.
“I don’t really have a plan right now,” Gould said. “Obviously, there is a deadline and I don’t have to make any decisions anytime soon. The deadline to sign a long-term contract is Monday, and the rest of that (potential holdout) is up to me.”
He has options, as supported by the league’s collective bargaining agreement with the players union. He could skip training camp, which opens July 26, and wait to report until Week 1 to start earning his $5 million contract. Or, he could wait until Week 10 to report and earn a prorated salary. Or he could sit out the entire season, as
Le’Veon Bell did last year to spurn the Pittsburgh Steelers’ franchise tag.
Then again, perhaps Gould’s agent, Brian Mackler, lands him a multiyear contract as talks continue.
The 49ers’ brass said in April that Gould would not be traded, and coach Kyle Shanahan sympathized with Gould’s desire to spend the offseason at his Chicago home with his wife and their three young sons.
“We love having him around. But, I understand how he feels and what’s going on,” Shanahan said June 11. “If (reporting Week 1) is the way he would like to do it, no problem with that at all. We’d always rather it be perfect the way we want it, but if he doesn’t want to show up until Week 1, it is what it is. Robbie’s a hell of a kicker and nothing’s really changed on that. I just really hope he shows up by
the time we play Week 1.”
Monday indeed marks the league’s deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign multiyear contracts, something Gould’s camp has pursued for more than a year. Gould requested a trade three months ago and indicated at the time he wouldn’t sign a longterm deal.
“We’ve been negotiating for 17 months, and it’s been a complicated situation,” Gould said. “I’m at the point where my agent is going to handle it. If there’s anything I need to know about, then I’ll make a decision.
“When I need to know something of substance and that I have to make a decision on, he’ll call me. I’ve been able to focus on my training and spending time with my family and being around my kids.”
Uprooting his family for a short-term deal isn’t feasible.
Gould has spent the offseason in Chicago, where he launched his career and
established himself as the Bears’ leading scorer from 2005-15.
The Bears’ ensuing instability at kicker, along with Gould’s love of the Chicago area, has fueled speculation of a potential return, although Gould has not publicly connected those dots.
“I never said I want to go back there,” Gould said. “I just said I want to be closer to my family. That doesn’t necessarily mean (the Bears).”
As much as Gould has cherished spending this offseason at home with his family, he did not minimize his absence from the 49ers’ offseason program.
“Listen, there are 11 people on the field-goal unit, and we have a new holder and new punter,” Gould said. “There’s going to be a lot of change in that regard. There’s a lot of tempo and timing and situational football that has to go into play.”
Gould made 72 of 75 field-goal attempts the past two seasons, so the 49ers did not hesitate to designate him as their franchise player. That kept him from cashing in on the open market.
“I’ve been through several holdouts. I’ve been through a lockout season. I’ve been through not being on a team and showing up in Week 6,” he said. “I’d say there is nothing that scares me anymore in Year 15, because I feel I’ve been through it all.”
Gould categorized himself as a kicker “in limbo” when addressing a local Rotary chapter Wednesday alongside former San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. Among the questions Gould answered was his favorite place to play, and his answer was a NFC North stadium, but not Chicago’s Soldier Field.
“My favorite place is Green Bay,” Gould said. “There’s something to the history of going there, and walking through the singlefile tunnel. I’ve played really well there. It’s a comfort thing.”
He’s played really well with the 49ers, too. So much so that the 49ers, at the very least, want him back on a $5 million for this year, but barring a long-term deal by Monday, Gould will kick elsewhere in 2020.
JIMMY G READY TO GO >> Football training camp is drudgery under a pitiless summer sun. It’s numbing repetition, with a perpetual bead of sweat on the end of your nose.
Jimmy Garoppolo can’t wait.
The 49ers’ quarterback, coming back from a left ACL tear suffered in the third game of last season, checked in with the local media Tuesday. He talked like a guy who will set multiple wake-up calls for the first day of practice, so enthused he will be back.
“The rehab process has gone really well,” Garoppolo said, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. “Knock on wood. We haven’t had any setbacks. OTAs went about as well as I could
have hoped for and now for training camp hopefully we’ll be full go with team drills and all that stuff. We’re moving in the right direction. We’ve just got to keep going day by day and keep stacking them together. It’s a long process, but we’ve come this far, so why stop now, right?”
Garoppolo said he has no restrictions and doesn’t envision being put on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Understanding that knees can have minds of their own, he sounds optimistic and realistic at the same time.
“The training staff, the coaches, we’ve kind of put together a plan and everything like that,” he said. “We’ll kind of assess the situation as we get closer to it. I’m good to go, finally.”
As part of his offseason regimen, Garoppolo said he worked with quarterback coaches Tom House and Adam Dedeaux.